What Has Made the Difference?

Christina and I are having, perhaps, our best year ever.   I don't say this to boast……… but how is this possible??  We are in our 8th to 9th year of serious cycling and we are older than dirt!

There is never one answer to a question like this.   We lead very low stress lives….no work, family all good, don't run a cycling team anymore.   We sleep and rest a lot.  But, the big reason is TUCSON.   No, it is really not the place but what it allows us to do………..big, big base miles when everyone is freezing their butts off on the east coast…..doing trainer workouts and shortening rides due to rain and cold.

All the pros know this and that is why they spend winters in places like Tucson, Mallorca, or Girona…….
They know the importance of base miles.

This training, for us, is different from what I once thought.   We do most of it fairly unstructured because that helps us stay enthused.   None the less, the rides have purpose.   The rides have gotten longer and mostly they are much longer than the races we do………weird huh?   Most of these rides are a 100k or more.   If you think these are LSD's (Long Slow Days), think again.   These rides always include steady state efforts, sometimes at a very high pace.

FARTLEKS………I have always liked the word, don't you?   We do random efforts that fit the terrain.   Today, on a big mountain ride, we did 4 climbs at Z3 level.   Sometimes these are Z4 and even race pace efforts.   We also throw in hill attacks and shorter/more intense efforts as we move to the end of base training.

Of course, no matter how much of this you do, you will not be ready to race.   You need speed in your legs created by race like training.  We also like TT intervals thrown in.  It seems we only need a few weeks of this type of activity.   This is good as it is really hard on us mentally and physically.  During this period, volume decreases some to allow for an increase in intensity.

If you check me out on Strava, you will see that I peaked for the Tucson Bike Classic in mid March and then rested.   I have been back base training again……put in over 18 hours this week, all with purpose.  My current fitness level is crazy.  

My next races are 6/7-6/8 - SC STATE RR Weekend and then I will race the following weekend at NC STATE RR with Modry Evergreen Racing.  Don't look for any podium finishes…..I will be working for my team mates.   Their success will be something I will share in.  So, this week, I shift gears.   Hopefully, I will be at SCTAC on Tuesday night and the Thursday night crit in Pickens.

Rest and family vacation will follow these two races and then another cycle, peaking for an August race in the French Pyrenees.   Christina and I are super pumped to be joining our friends Chris and Helen Balfour of Pyractif in the Barrouse Bales cyclosportive on August 10th.

I hope you will share your thoughts on the above!

See ya out there.